Search results: Get Ready!

Review: While lots has been written about the influence of Black American soul and R&B artists on Britain's most successful (white) bands of the 1960s, little focus has previously fallen on the music of black Britons - and others from elsewhere in the Commonwealth who called the UK home - during the same period. Gotta Get A Good Thing, which tells the story of black music in Britain in the "swinging sixties", is therefore long overdue. Musically, it skips through soul, rhythm & blues, ska, rocksteady and more besides, offering up tracks from both well-known names and overlooked artists. Throw in extensive liner notes - including an introductory essay from Fitzroy Facey of the Soul Survivors - and you have a genuinely essential compilation.

Review: Spread across two vinyl discs, listeners are treated to a treasure trove of rocksteady reggae gems that have defined the genre from the world famous Trojan records. Featuring iconic tracks like Desmond Dekker & The Aces' '007 (Shanty Town),' The Upsetters' 'Return Of Django' (feat. Val Bennett), Delroy Wilson's 'Once Upon A Time,' and many more, this compilation captures the essence of Jamaica's vibrant musical heritage. With its carefully curated selection of classics, This Is Trojan Rock Steady is a must-have for any reggae enthusiasts collection, offering a nostalgic journey through the rich history of this strand of Jamaican music.

Review: Congo Natty celebrates a decade of revolutionary jungle music with this anniversary reissue of a classic. Originally released in 2013, this album remains a cornerstone of the genre, blending reggae, hip-hop, and jungle influences into a powerful sonic tapestry. With timeless tracks like 'UK Allstars' and 'Jungle Souljah,' Congo Natty captures the spirit of the underground rave scene with infectious beats and socially conscious lyrics. This anniversary edition breathes new life into the record with remastered tracks and additional content, reminding listeners of the enduring legacy of jungle music and Congo Natty's vital contribution to its evolution.

Review: Surely one of the most iconic of all the British funk bands of the 90s, The Brand New Heavies split the difference between the heads-down seriousness of the rare groove scene with a sharp pop instinct which found them great success. This best of collection gives you hit after hit, and as soon as the irresistible groove of 'Never Stop' kicks in you'll be taken right back to that era. There's a house sensibility to some of the tunes which speaks to their proximity to Soul II Soul, but this is a funk band first and foremost, and their dynamic flow as a group is what resulted in such evergreen hits as 'Shelter' and 'Apparently Nothing'.

Review: For all the Paul Oakenfold material we tend to burn through, it was only a matter of time before we reached Bunkka. Oakenfold's debut album, it was first released on the little-known Maverick label, but Oakenfold lived up to his patron's name, commenting at the time that - "I hope (my fans) realise that in any forms of music you need to push the boundaries." It's for that reason that Bunkka isn't just a straight-up trance record, instead working in more fashionable elements from styles that were also popular at the time, from big beat to trip-hop, perhaps helping prototype "psybient". Among its many collabs, even writer Hunter S. Thompson is credited on the track 'Nixon's Spirit', reflecting the full pull of Oakenfold's esoteric influences.

Review: It's now a quarter of a century since Terry Callier released his Timepeace album, which was his first after a 15 year break. The record won the United Nations's Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement and for "contributing to world peace." It features standout tunes like 'People Get Ready' and 'Brotherly Love' composed by Curtis Mayfield, as well as a guest spot from Pharoah Sanders on tenor-saxophone on the title song 'Timepeace' and seven other wondrous tunes that showcase soul, jazz, folk influences. This reissue includes an insert with lyrics and liner-notes by Tom Terrell.

Review: We are still being treated to superb albums that were written during the Coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and this is one of them. It took shape across a two-year period in New York, Seoul, and London and finds the highly rated Yaeji looking closely at her relationship with anger. In something of a shift away from the sound of previous work, she brings in rock and hip-hop elements as well as her signature house style. The lyrics in English and Korean are dark and self-reflective, while the artist also employs live instrumentation for the first time. Guests include K Wata and Enayet, plus vocals from London's Loraine James and Baltimore's Nourished by Time.

Review: The legend of Bob Marley lives on and is as strong as ever every time a new germination comes along and connects with his universal messages of peace, love and understanding. The man with a million hits of course had the eternal support of The Wailers to help him spread his good vibes and Legend is an album that shows this off best. This special edition picture disc is a real collectors edition and comes with all the standards - "Could You Be Loved", "I Shot The Sheriff", "Buffalo Soldier" and many more.

Review: Curated as part of the iconic street artist's Tate exhibition this year, The World Of Keith Haring unites many of the talented souls Keith knew, or was inspired by, during his prolific rise as one of the most vital cultural spokesmen through the 70s and 80s. Soundtracking the gritty downtown NYC streets he made his first mark on, this limited collection captures the whole melting pot from b-boy culture with cuts such as "E.T Boogie" and "Bump N Grind", raw boogie and soul ("Over & Over") and pure drama ("The Guardian Angel Is Watching Over Us"). A powerful collection as striking and relatable as his own signature.

Review: Williamsburg-based Truth & Soul Records is fast becoming one of the most reliable sources of modern soul and revivalist deep funk. Should you be unfamiliar with their output - and you should be, given that they set up shop in 2003 - this double LP trawl through the label's bulging back catalogue should be an essential purchase. Highlights are naturally plentiful, from the Cuban and Caribbean influenced instrumental brilliance of Bacao Rhythm & Steel Band's "Pimp", and the stripped-back deep soul of Beau Williams' "I'll Be Home Soon", to the raw, Hammond-heavy 60s jazz-funk of The Fabulous 3's "Night Bird" and fuzzy analogue afro-funk of Zafari's "King Masuru".

Review: Motown might well be up there as one of the greatest labels of all time - although maybe Blue Note would have something to say about that - and so a collection of its most classic cuts is always going to be worth hearing. The famous and original music factory was a real production line in the 60s, turning out hit after hit that reigned soul and pop for a new generation. All the most iconic gems are here by the lies of Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracle, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas and Billy Preston & Syreeta amongst many more.

Review: Selector, percussionist, producer and all-round legend Snowboy represents his weekly Madame JoJo's showcase in album form. Digging deep across two 12"s, Snowboy treats us to 23 undiluted funk and soul cuts. From well-known (James Brown's "Bring It Up" and Etta James' "Can't Shake It") to lesser-known (The Shirelles' "Boys", Dorothy Berry's "I Say You're Driving Me Crazy"), the whole curation rolls with emphatic consistency and attention to detail. With gems hidden around every corner, even the most ardent of collectors will find many things to love right here.

Review: For a project that has taken thirty years it would be totally inadequate to call the formation of Hypocritical Beatdown a lockdown-project. There's a deep history and psychology in these records by Violators Of The English Language and their spin-off groups Magnets (Rap Group) and ProVerbs, that combines stage-fright, loss, pride, creative-schizophrenia, racial inequality, surrealism, personal politics, brotherhood, artistic-constipation, better judgment, love, anti-love, soul searching and much more.

The one remaining untapped energy source here is perhaps FEAR, refreshing when used correctly, but never imposter syndrome. As maligned and mutated as this British Hip-Hop might appear to be, it could not be more pure. Each member of all of the Hypocritical Beatdown crew were committed to this cause as soon as the doors opened. They rapped on stages before they had even tasted beer or lost their virginity and the curse had already taken hold in the years when these youngsters still had to be back home before dark and it has never left their bloodstreams.

That's why this record NEEDED to be made. Completed, recorded, exorcised, committed to vinyl, rotated and liberated. Not unlike the VHS tape in a well known Japanese horror film, every listened copy, complete with its broken beats, old-school sensibilities and Marmite Mancunian accents, adds to the mystic circle... breaks the dream... some people might even like it. If you were given a chance to go back and meet your teenage self, wouldn't you?

Review: Marking 60 years since the late singer's birth, I Can Only Be Me celebrates the striking talent of Eva Cassidy with an ambitious project. Christopher Willis and William Ross teamed up to compose new arrangements for some of Cassidy's best loved songs, which have been recorded by none other than the London Symphony Orchestra. 'Songbird' is the centrepiece of the project, which made use of new breakthroughs in AI technology to add new dimensions to Cassidy's performance in line with Willis and Ross' new compositions. It's a posthumous collaboration like no other, sure to delight fans who always dreamed of where else Cassidy's music might have taken her if she hadn't died so young.

Review: Known as one of house music's contemporary darlings, Yaeji returns to XL Recordings with a concept album certain to prove her worth as an artist well beyond hip, 4x4 vocal bangers. With A Hammer is an album with full cross-continental appeal, hearing Yaeji channel her regional affinities with Seoul, London and New York into a righteously angry comeback. Across it, Yaeji is accompanied by her metaphorical hammer friend - Hammer Lee - whom she uses proudly to smash the many heterodox expectations foisted on her and her community, and which have conspired to keep her down in the past. With signature bilingual vocals and an updated slick sound, the album also brings together tunes made with K Wata, Enayet, Nourished by Time, and Loraine James.

Review: 'One Year' was solo art rock cornerstone Colin Bluntstone's breakout album. Folky, breathy and full of solo guitar strum and vocal bittersweetness, the album was originally relegated to just 10 tracks, with 'Caroline Goodbye' and 'Smokey Day' being our standouts, being the strange, cinematic cuts that show off Bluntstone's pucklike voice most enjoyably. Now, on this reissue by Sundazed, we're delivered an expanded edition, racking up the numbering to a whopping 24 tracks, adding a previously unheard second part, 'That Same Year', to the album's rear. The new songs are of refreshing mono demo quality, and are testament to an artist that has a wealth of melancholy originals still waiting to be unleashed from the vaults.

Review: Featuring iconic hits from the likes of The Beatles, The Supremes, and Elvis Presley, this collection of '60s pop classics is a treasure trove of nostalgia, tapping into the psychedelic decade's zeitgeist. With its feel-good tunes and singalong choruses, it's the perfect soundtrack for any retro party or road trip, charting ever more peace-loving contributions from John Lennon, Yoko Ono, The Mamas And The Papas, and The Beach Boys.

Review: In soul terms, The Spinners are one of the greatest to ever do it, and box sets like these serve as the perfect way to get across some of their finest work. This seven-disc CD collection gathers together their legendary Atlantic studio albums produced by Them Bell, plus an additional 25 bonus tracks covering single edits, non-album B-sides and tracks from the group's very first Atlantic studio session. The Philly soul legends' biggest hits are present and correct, from 'I'll Be Around' to 'The Rubberband Man', plus scores more songs remastered by Nick Robbins to ensure they sound the best they ever have.

Review: Cleveland Francis, the stalwart of US black folk, coined the term "soulfolk" to describe his uniquely bleak style of acoustic music. Growing up and coming to prominence in the state of Virginia, he rarely missed an opportunity to play at every college campus, coffee shop, bar and odd corner he could find. Now some of his earliest and most important recordings get compiled into this double 21-track anthology, 'Beyond The Willow Tree', which, like no other, does wonders in chronicling the experience of black segregated youth in the 60s and 70s.